ccoyle

I have to agree that your first effort is not at all shabby -- you have made a very good start!

You mean like fishing bare-handed for catfish, or some other kind of noodling?

Never met him actually, but I thought it was pretty amazing when I discovered that out of all the navy ships he could have served on -- all those support ships, troop ships, tugs, and other types that performed valuable service but are now largely forgotten -- that he served on one of the immortals.

I had a third cousin, Oliver Coyle Sr., who was a Seaman First Class aboard the Sammy B. He is listed on the roll of survivors at de413.org. He passed away in 2011. The last Sammy B survivor passed away in March of this year at the age of 98.

Hello, Andrew. First, welcome to Model Ship World! These are interesting models, but posting a single link in a post is not really what we intend a build log to be. Because metal models are kind of a niche medium, we don't have a designated area for them. I'm thinking the best option would be for you to create an album in the kit models gallery and show us some of the finished models. You could certainly provide the link in the description of your album. In addition, your description should tell us something about the Piececool kits in general, as I doubt that many of our members know of them, but they would probably be curious about them. Cheers!

That has to be an Irish name. No other language on Earth has such an abundance of silent letters.

Brief update: I started work on the propeller hub. The diagrams appear to include different options for this, so I have to kind of guess at which parts to use. On the far right we have an engine cover, which is the only three-dimensional part of the engine that will be included in this build. It is a large petal structure. Normally I dread petal structures, because they are difficult to get right, but my new dapping tool set was immensely helpful for this chore. I'm pleased with the result. In the middle is the "hub," which is a long strip rolled into a tight cylinder around a plastic rod. On the left is the template for sanding the hub down to the proper shape. I chucked the rod into my Dremel tool and hit the 'on' switch -- and the rod promptly snapped off at the base of the hub. That happened last night and resulted in the immediate closing up of the shop for the night. Today I drilled out the broken rod and replaced it with a steel rod. I have shaped the hub (liberally stiffened with thin CA) and am now in the process of painting it. I will post another update when I get the blades added. Cheers!

😆 Since these will be incorporated into a ship model, I assume they are boattails?

Nearly all of the Caldercraft kits were designed by Chris Watton, the current owner of Vanguard Models. Chris' first designs for Caldercraft were innovative for their time, but they are now over 20 years old in some cases, and even Chris will readily admit that his designs have improved significantly since then. Plus, unless the folks at Caldercraft have updated and reprinted them since then, the older Caldercraft kits were very light on the instructions. The upshot of all this is that the Caldercraft kits will still make very nice models, but they are not as beginner-friendly as newer releases. OcCre kits typically include very user-friendly, photo-style instructions, and they are relatively inexpensive. The flip side is that OcCre kits are not known for accurately portraying their subjects. We have many finished build logs of kits from both companies, as well as from Vanguard Models. I suggest you have a look at some from each company and also peruse some of the reviews for each company in the kit reviews section. These will help you make an informed decision. Last bit of advice: choose a kit subject you really like, not just one that seems like the best model for a beginner. You need to feel a connection to your subject matter in order to stay motivated during the long haul of building. Cheers!

Don't fret -- I have an unfinished HMS Fly started in 2006. 😬

Nic, will she have sails? I know it's a display model, but a massive schooner like that will seem incomplete without sails.

Dis you miss the gallery link in the banner?

It's a very old Monogram kit, first released in 1956. https://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php?detail=3543&page=74&soldarchive=1

It's worth mentioning that this kit is also available as part of Shipyard's "laser cardboard" series (translating Polish to English sometimes produces odd-sounding terms). The laser cardboard kits are complete projects in 1/72 scale that include kit, frames, blocks, rigging material, paints, and glue. But they are not cheap -- the Mercury kit sells for north of $400.

Takin' a break for a Fathers Day paddle on Lake Cunningham.

I probably shouldn't have looked at pictures of actual Hellcats just now, because now I'm seeing that the scoop on the model is all wrong, but I swear that's the best I could come up with based on the diagrams, and I can't see how it could have been done differently with the parts on hand. 😕 I swear my next airplane will be either a Halinski or a Kartonowa Kolekcja kit,

Well, another update. I got the forward fuselage and cowl finished, but it WAS NOT FUN. It took me quite a while to figure out how the various parts were supposed to go together, based on the somewhat nebulous diagrams. Then it took me another long while to screw up the nerve to actually start gluing stuff, and the stuff didn't just fall together but instead required substantial fiddling and shaping just to get at something acceptable. Then it took me yet another long while to do all the touch up work after the gluing was done. Blech!! First, a shot of various structures strewn about on my cutting mat. I had to do surgery on the forward-most frame to make room for the air scoop to fit in. The scoop itself is a complex shape made from eight parts. The front three cowl rings did not line up properly, which required some follow-up surgery later. You'll note that I opted to use the flat, printed engine cylinder piece rather than make the individual cylinders. Based on how difficult it was to make everything come together, this was probably a smart decision. So, here's the finished nose section. I had to do some additional nips, tucks, fills , and touch-ups to get this to look half-way decent. And here it is after gluing it to the fuselage. I noticed just now that the front of the cowl got a little deformed during the mating of the fuselage sections, so now I'll be off to fix that. Cheers!

Well, I thought I remembered seeing a build log recently, but perhaps I was mistaken. I might have been confusing it with one of the other BB kits.

I know at least one member of this forum who really likes Billing Boats kits, and he does a great job building them -- the builder is the key. And if you do a search for "Billing Boats Dana," you'll see that we have several completed examples in the gallery. It can be built into a very nice model. The main thing is to have fun and feel a connection to whatever you happen to be building. Now, very soon some other members will chime in with suggestions for beginner-friendly kits, and you may certainly take those under advisement. But, once you make your decision about how to proceed, commit yourself to simply enjoying the journey. Cheers!

But still fresh in the hearts of fans of Die Mannschaft.

Wow! What a beautiful place to call home! Hope you enjoy your time here. Cheers!

Most models are actually 'mixed media' to some degree. Your bollards will like fine to the average viewer. I once knew a great modeler who described his models as 'artistic impressions' -- they looked a little rough if you looked too closely, but at normal viewing distances they were lovely.

Well, that is a major bummer.

I agree with Allan. Those kits are on the 'stylized' end of the kit accuracy spectrum -- the rigging in particular is highly simplified. Also, as a beginner, you will find it much easier to take on the myriad number of small elements on a ship model if you steer toward larger scales, e.g. in the 1/48 to 1/64 scale range.

I'm acquainted with Super-Hobby but have never ordered from them. They carry card models and usually have a good number of photos of the actual kits, something that most retailers don't usually do. I hope you have a positive experience with them.